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I actually finished my first brioche knitting project. I’ve had learning brioche as a goal for about two years now and tried learning via YouTube with no success. So, when a brioche class was offered the day before the Knitting Pipeline retreat started, I jumped at chance. Once I got the rhythm of brioche down it was actually an easy and fun knit. Only reason it took two months was because I had to stop in between and work on knitting for classes. But it’s done!

Pattern – Chromatic Cowl (Ravelry pattern here) by Amy Detjen (who taught the class). It’s worked in the round with two colors. I think its important to note that the pattern itself doesn’t teach you how to do brioche – it assumes you know this. You use a solid color to start and end with a curled border. Normally I dislike edges curling as an intended border but on this it works out well. Pattern is free on Ravelry.

Yarn – I bought a kit at the start of the brioche class that was designed specifically for the cowl. The yarn is Greatest of Ease from KnitCircus Yarns and is a fingering weight 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon blend. The kit included two 50 gram cakes, one in a solid (cream in my case) and another in a gradient (I bought the Over the Rainbow colorway). I really liked the feel of the yarn (squishy and soft) but I did have some spots where the yarn had frayed a bit (as in it was becoming unplied). The rainbow colors are very vibrant and it became “potato chip knitting” to get to the next color.

So happy for finishitis – the opposite of startitis for knitters. I saw a sample of this shawl knit up in the Verdant Gryphon booth at Stitches Midwest last year and loved the shape and design. Grinning Gargoyle yarns had some luxury yarn on sale in the needed weight and quantity. A perfect match up. I actually started this around Thanksgiving but set it down multiple times to work on some of my designs. I feel like it was a close friend throughout the winter months and was almost sad to see the shawl end. Enough about the backstory and onto the good details!

Pattern – Mansion House (Ravelry pattern here) by Toby Roxane Designs. Its worked top-down with a center triangle flanked by two longer, shallower triangles. The lace pattern was a good level of challenging and the stockinette stitch in the long, shallow triangle provided a nice break. The only thing I didn’t love about this pattern was the lack of border at the end. You finish a repeat of the chart and immediately bind off which means the bind off edge curls. A seed stitch border might be nice?

Yarn – Grinning Gargoyle Primo. Primo is a heavy DK weight blend of 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. One skein is 4 ounces and 230 yards. Super squishy and soft with a medium amount of twist. These stuff just feels like luxury and held up well. The colorway for this is Signature Red, a deep, dark red color. It bled a little bit when washed, which isn’t totally unexpected with a red. One of the factors that drew me to the yarn from Grinning Gargoyle was the subtle tonal nature of the yarn. I used three skeins and the resulting shawl is larger and perfect to snuggle up in.

More gift knitting. A good friend of mine is expecting a baby in early January so of course I wanted to knit something. I like knitting baby stuff because it goes to quick. I finished this in less than a week although the Thanksgiving holiday weekend helped with getting some quality knitting time in. Please pardon the indoor lighting on the pictures – Indiana didn’t get much in the way of sun in between when I finished and when I had to wrap the present.

Pattern – Milo (Ravelry pattern here) by Georgie Hallam aka Tikki. I like a lot her stuff because its clean and doesn’t try to be “cutesy.” Several items I would knit for myself if they came in adult sizes. Milo is a baby vest knit in the round top down with a super easy construction for the arm straps. The body has a simple cable down the front and the pattern provides several different cable options. I used the Horseshoe pattern since it was gender neutral and simple. Pattern was clear and easy to understand. I knit the three month size (pattern contains newborn up to 6 years) to have some wiggle room. Pattern is $6 on Ravelry.

Yarn – Universal Deluxe DK Superwash. As the name implies, this is a DK weight superwash merino yarn. One ball (how it comes) is 3.53 ounces and 284 yards. It’s very squishy but not very tightly plied. I actually had a lot of problems with the yarn splitting, as well as finding uneven spots. The colorway for this is Christmas Red, a bright red color. The gender of the baby is not yet known so this was a good gender-neutral choice. I used about 165 yards. I might use this yarn again for baby stuff because it is superwash but probably not for adult items.

Gift knitting. Of course, now I want one for me too. I’ve actually had this done for about a week but wanted to wait until I gave it to the recipient to post (although I don’t think she reads my blog). Her birthday was an extra special occasion this year for two reasons – one, it was a milestone birthday, two, I actually got to see her on her birthday! She’s one of the most knit-worthy people I know which means I enjoy knitting for her. I gave it to her last night and I think she liked it. Enough about the backstory and onto the good details! I won’t be going into great detail about the pattern as I plan to write a review next week about the book the pattern was in.

Pattern – Gridelin (Ravelry pattern here) from the Curls book by Hunter Hammersen. Curls are unusual shaped shawls that I can best describe as half a crescent shawl. It’s an eight row repeat that uses increases more similar to a triangular shawl. Like I mentioned, I’ll discuss the book and yarn usage next week in my review.

Yarn – Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. Smooshy with Cashmere is a fingering weight blend of 70% merino, 20% cashmere and 10% nylon. One skein is 4 ounces and 400 yards. Super squishy and soft but not very tightly plied. The colorway for this is Amber Glass, a rich gold color. I held the yarn double (so it was about DK weight) and used 784 yards. I’ve used this yarn before and would use it again just because it is so soft. I was worried that by holding the yarn double I would have issues with splitty-ness but it was fine.